Rain, rain...go away

It rained most of yesterday and last night.  I was still awake at 3 am and it was really raining hard.  I think that the photo below is what our back yard looks like now with all that rain we've had. :)  (Actually, the pic was taken at the Lake of the Ozarks a couple weeks ago)

Hubby got called to work at 3 am.  I guess that is the reason I couldn't sleep, just knew the phone would ring at some point and he would get called out.  He got back home around 6:30.  They had a electric line that burned up that crossed a rain swollen creek and it took a bit of time to get that line replaced.

I'm just getting over one of the worst cases of the "bug" that I've had in a long while.  I'm much better but still coughing some and still just very tired.  Hope to get caught up on blogging soon and see what everyone is up to these days.  I didn't feel much like being on the computer or commenting if I was.  


Some good news and some bad news...my son and his girlfriend broke up recently.  We all really liked her and thought she might be "the one" but things happened and it was not meant to be, I guess.  I'm sorry for both of them that it didn't work out as they hoped it would.  The good news is that my son, who lives in Texas, has talked to his boss and he is going to be able to move back to Kansas City to be closer to his friends and family.  Yay!  We're really happy about that, we'll be able to see him more often. 

My good friend from Oregon will be here tomorrow.  We're going to lunch before I have to go to work at 3 pm.   Looking forward to seeing her and catching up on news.  

How is your weekend?  Are you enjoying sunshine or coping with spring storms?

Until next time...

Hugs

Is there anything sweeter than a hug from a precious one?  Especially when you are feeling sick or maybe just plain ole weary?  The photo shows a hug of the feet by Stormy, our sweet kitten.  (Please excuse the unmade bed and dirty socks!)

This is day 5 for me trying to get rid of this nasty virus I've picked up.  Went to the doctor this morning and got a shot and some medicine.  I've had such a sore throat and non-stop coughing, some chills and of course the ever-present achiness and general miserable feeling that accompanies such ailments.  The nurse told me that this particular ailment is going around and is harder to get rid of than usual. 

I'm really in a dilemma because one of my dear friends is supposed to be here from Oregon this Thursday on her way to see relatives north of here.  We been friends since school days and I really want to see her, but hate for her to walk into this house of germs!  We were planning on her spending the night Thursday.   Of course, Thursday is a few days away, but the worst thing is that I haven't felt like sprucing up the house!

My daughter mixed up a concoction that she read about on the web last night.  I think she thought I was about to cough myself silly.  Anyway, the stuff had  apple cider vinegar, honey, ginger and cayenne pepper in it!  It worked for maybe 10-15 minutes.  I told her that the reason it worked for that time is because it paralyzes your throat and you can't cough!  I did appreciate her trying to help, tho.  


Well, 'nuf said about that.  Just wanted to check in and share the sweet photo of Stormy.  Hopefully, things will get back to normal here soon.


I hope your week is off to a great start!


Until next time...

Flowers and Trees

 

The lilac is one of my very favorite flowers.  The scent is heavenly.  This particular lilac bush (below) was a start from a bush we brought with us when we moved from our former home.  It was just a very small bush for years and I had almost given up hope that it would ever bloom, but after 20 years it finally has reached a good size and is blooming nicely this year.  Most lilacs have "shoots" that grow up around the base of the original bush and they are very easy to dig up and start...usually.  I'm not quite sure what took this particular one so long to get going.

My wish is that they would bloom all summer, as well as the beautiful redbud trees and other spring bloomers.

 

The tree just above is the same as the one before it, just taken in the light of the setting sun behind me. 

 

This large oak tree is in the "Back 6" as we like to call it.  Just to the right of it was another oak of the same size at one time.  During a severe storm, several years ago, that was so bad we had even gone to the basement, we were looking out the back window watching in amazement as the trees were nearly bent over and just happened to witness the wind take down one of the mighty oaks.  It was quite a sight and later on when the storm died down and we went to view the aftermath of the crash, we could see inside the enormous trunk...it was hollow.
   

It's not funny really, but sometimes you just have to laugh...we seem to bring bad luck to oak trees.  At our previous home, we had a large oak that got some kind of borers in it and it died and had to be cut down.  The same thing happened here to another large oak we had between our house and the building we own next to it and it had to be cut down.  Then the storm took out one of the mighty oaks in our pasture!  What's going on?   

As you can see by the photos, the weather here this week has been wonderful.  Hope you are enjoying great spring weather where ever you are!

Until next time...

Girl's day out

As I write this, it still is Monday night to me but in reality it's Tuesday.  Anyway, when I refer to yesterday...I'm thinking of Sunday.   Did I lose you yet?  

My daughter and I had a girl's day out yesterday.  We ended up going to Columbia and did a bit of shopping and then we ate at the Red Lobster.  I wanted to go to the Olive Garden, but it was much too busy.  The Red Lobster was very good, tho.  Here's a photo of what I ordered:  

 

We really enjoyed our meal.  My seafood platter was scrumptious.  I love the bread they bring out.  There is a copykat recipe and I remember trying it once, but it didn't taste nearly as good.  

The weather here is still just wonderful.  Very warm for spring, too, I wanted to turn on the a/c today but just turned on a fan instead.  

I really didn't want to go to work this afternoon.  I work from  3-11:30.  They are asking us to work extra days because we are behind.  Not what I wanted to hear.  

 

Have you seen the movie "Blindside" yet?  We watched it last night, it was very good.  I think Sandra Bullock is even prettier with blond hair and Tim McGraw looks very different with hair! 

Sunday was a very good day and hearing that Phil Mickelson won the Masters made it all the better.  Yay for Phil.  I'm not a golfer (unless miniature golf counts...LOL), but I enjoy watching golf sometimes.  My son golfs and when he comes home and has his golf clubs with him, he will hit some practice shots from the house out into the pasture.  I'll try a few swings, but I can barely get the ball off the tee.  It's quite funny, really.  I think I'll stick with miniature golf!  

Hope you are enjoying some wonderful spring weather, too!

Until next time...

A Beautiful Day

Hubby and I went day-tripping Friday.  We drove to the Lake of the Ozarks.  It was a beautiful spring day and the redbuds and wild plums were all in bloom.   Here is a shot of part of the lake near Bagnell Dam.  I didn't take as many photos that I would have liked...the traffic was pretty heavy and moving fast, so by the time I spotted a good photo op it was too late to find a place to pull over.  The redbuds are one of my favorite flowering spring trees.  We have a few in our yard and several down by the small creek at the edge of our pasture.  Don't you just love spring?  I say that it is my favorite season...that is, until autumn comes around! 


Hope you have a wonderful weekend. 


Until next time...

The Tree

I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree

That is a quote from a poem that most of us probably remember from our school days.  I have always loved trees and this particular one is on the road from my town to the small town where my father lived in his later years.  I would pick him up and take him back down this highway to another small town where he loved to get his hair cut or just for a ride past the farm he lived on for so many years or maybe to our house for lunch.  Anyway, we would be passing this tree on the trip.  Each time, without fail, he would comment on the lovely shape of this tree.  It became known to us as "dad's tree".  Even though dad has been gone now for 6 years, I still think of him when we travel down this highway and pass this stately tree.  It will forever be "dad's tree".  The picture above was taken last spring and the picture below was taken last summer.  

Until next time...

Spring Fever

I have spring fever!  It's time to do some spring cleaning and rearranging things for a fresh new look.  This blog is no exception.  So if you've stopped by and thought you've gone to the wrong place, I've been trying out new backgrounds and headers.  This header will probably not stay long.  I really haven't found a background that suits me yet, either.  

We had a nice weekend.  We just had a simple lunch and then we went to Columbia to visit my husband's father in the nursing home.  We took him a chocolate bunny and a pretty pot of cheerful yellow tulips to brighten his room.  This was our table setting for lunch:

Well, it was a good weekend until the storms blew through.  We have had a lot of rain and there has been some damage in the area causing power outages.  Which means work for my lineman husband.  He was called to work at 10 pm and hasn't returned home yet as I write this (noon).  Well, this is something I've gotten used to over the 30 plus years that he has worked for the rural electric cooperative.  One Thanksgiving week years ago, I was out shopping for groceries for Thanksgiving dinner and when I got home I found  my husband's note that he had packed his suitcase and was headed to the southern part of the state to work an ice storm.  Those were the days before we had cell phones.  He was gone several days and missed having Thanksgiving with us.  

I'm not working today, I took the day off and so far have been very lazy.  I've  pretty much just played with the blog so far and it's time to move on to a new project.  Not sure if I want to tackle anything too strenuous today.  Hope the rains are over, my spring fever is calling me to get out and go shopping.  And enjoy the spring colors busting out all over...I love spring!  


Hope you had a nice Easter weekend and that you escaped the storms we've had. 


Until next time...

Forecast: Sunshine!!

I'm so happy to report that the weatherman has forecast sunshine for our area for the next several days!  The jonquils are blooming, the grass is growing...spring has sprung!   I've begun thinking about what to buy to put in my planters this year.  Will I get the patio fixed the way I'd like to this year, or get involved in a different project?  Last year, we stripped wallpaper and painted in the kitchen and painted the living room and hallway.  It was a long, involved process.  With work and various other interferences, that project took much longer than we thought it would.  Did I mention that we are not so young and as fast as we used to be? Anyway, when it was completed, we were very pleased with the end result.  So now, what will we tackle this spring?  

I'd like to fix the back patio up a bit.  We have a large expanse of concrete about 24 feet out from the house and around 40 feet wide.  Not quite the length of the house, we have retaining walls on each end of the patio.  The concrete has developed quite a few cracks in it and I've been trying to think of a way to make it look better without breaking the bank.  Here's a charming picture of an outdoor room that I saved from a magazine (sorry, can't remember which one so I can't give credit here...hope that's not a no-no.)

I can't quite tell if that is grass or some kind of ground cover growing in this picture.  I'm thinking those are possibly flagstones because of the color and not concrete like mine is, but the idea I have is to do something like this.  What do you think? 

Here is a picture of part of my patio and if you look closely at the floor, you will see the cracks.

I also will be looking for better cushions for the chairs.  These were purchased last year when there wasn't much left to choose from and they are much too thin.  We have around 40 pots altogether that we put flowers in.  I have a bakers rack next to the house that I put several smaller pots on, and on stands around the patio and in large pots.  Of course, some go on the front side of the house.  Several pots need to be replaced or spray painted. 

Even though spring brings with it a lot of work, we are more than ready to see the sunshine and warmer weather so we can sit outside on the patio and enjoy watching the birds or the fish jumping in the pond and listen to the crickets and frogs croaking.  The sights and sounds of spring and summer will be most welcome.  

Until next time...

What a difference a day makes

24 little hours....ok, I'll quit now.  That was a good song.  Unlike today's weather here in mid-Missouri.  Not good.  We had beautiful weather Friday...around 70 degrees.  Today (Saturday, as I write this) is snowy and getting colder by the hour. 

We ventured out today and got our taxes done...well, almost done.   We need to get information on one more thing and call it in and then they can finish.  Also got my hair cut and frosted.  Hub got his haircut too, and then it was time for a bit of shopping.  I stopped in at a flea market and found some neat things that I could easily live without, but would like to have and think I'll go back and get them.  If they are still there, I'll just tell myself that it was meant to be!  

If the weather isn't too crazy tomorrow, I plan to make a trip to Columbia after lunch.  There's a shop that's having a sale this weekend only and I want to take advantage of that.  


Hope you are having a good weekend with better weather than here.


Until next time...

Monday, Monday...and a pizza

Remember the song Monday, Monday by The Mamas and the Papas?  Maybe you're not old enough? It came out in 1966 and although the group were not people I would exactly look up to, I did enjoy their blended voices.  People have different takes on just what the lyrics mean, I prefer to think of them as referring to that kind of yucky feeling you have when you know that the great weekend is over and having to start another work week. 


So much for my Monday, Monday.  I stayed home from work today with a nasty headache.  Will have to make up my time Thursday, no doubt.   I did manage to rally around and fix a pizza for supper.  We used to have these quite often when the kids were young and at home.  It's called Crazy Crust Pizza and if you haven't tried it before, I think you'll like it if you like pizza.   I meant to take a picture when I pulled the pan out of the oven, but forgot...here's a not very good pic of a remaining piece.   The recipe follows.  

Crazy Crust Pizza

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup milk

 Toppings of choice

Pizza sauce (or use an 8 oz can of tomato sauce with

a 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning mixed in)

Mozzarella cheese (1 cup or more)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly grease a pizza pan or

baking sheet.

   

    2.  In a bowl, stir together first six ingredients and then mix in eggs

                  and milk, stirring well.  Pour batter into the prepared pan and tilt until 

                   evenly coated.  Arrange toppings of your choice (such as hamburger or

                        sausage already cooked and drained of grease, pepperoni slices, chopped

                    green bell pepper, chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, etc.) on top of the

batter. 

3.  Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until crust is set.

                        4.  Remove from oven and drizzle on 1 cup pizza sauce and sprinkle with 1 cup 

                   (or more) of mozzarella cheese.  Return to oven and bake until cheese

is melted, about 10 minutes.  

Yesterday was my birthday.  Hubster took me to Columbia where we browsed an antique mall, ate a nice midday meal, and shopped for a few necessities before heading home.  It was another cloudy, gloomy day here in Missouri but still a nice birthday outing.  

Looked like the sun was trying to come out late in the day.   I saw a lone duck on the pond today, it looked mostly white.  The blasted muskrats were also out frolicking in the water today.  Hub needs to get some traps or just get the rifle out and go hunting!  They can do quite a bit of damage to your pond.  I enjoy looking out my kitchen window, there's always something interesting to see down at the pond and you never know what kind of animal you'll see going through the pasture.  The birds at the feeders are entertaining too.  We've had a pair of squirrels eating the cracked corn out of one of the feeders. 

Hope your Monday has been a good one.  


Until next time...